CPF: what it means for foreigners and PRs

If you're on an Employment Pass, CPF isn't your problem yet; the day you become a Permanent Resident, it very much is.

The short version

The Central Provident Fund (CPF) is Singapore's compulsory savings scheme for citizens and Permanent Residents. Employers only pay it for employees who are citizens or PRs [1].
Employment Pass and S Pass holders don't pay CPF. Your pay packet is bigger, but nothing is being saved for you. The Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) is the voluntary alternative [2][3].
New PRs pay at lower graduated rates for two years, then the full rates: 20% from you and 17% from your employer if you're 55 or under [1][4].
CPF earns at least 2.5% on the Ordinary Account and 4% on the Special, MediSave and Retirement Accounts [5].
Give up PR and leave, and you can close the account and take the money [6]. There's no UK–Singapore social security agreement, so CPF and UK pensions run side by side, never combined.

Why Employment Pass holders don't pay

CPF is designed for Singapore's own people. The CPF Board says the system exists to "cater to the retirement, housing and healthcare needs" of citizens and PRs [6], and employers pay contributions only for employees who are citizens or PRs earning more than S$50 a month [1]. If you've moved out on an Employment Pass or S Pass, there's no CPF line on your payslip at all.

That sounds like a win, and in cash terms it is. But it also means:

No pension is building up in Singapore. Your employer may offer something extra, but there's no legal requirement.
No MediShield Life. PRs and citizens are enrolled in Singapore's basic public health insurance; foreigners aren't, as the FCDO's guide confirms [2]. Your health cover is whatever your employer or insurer provides.
No UK pension building up either, unless you pay into one yourself. A UK workplace scheme usually stops when you leave the UK payroll.

The FCDO points non-PRs to the Supplementary Retirement Scheme [2]. It's run by DBS, OCBC and UOB, and foreigners can open an account [3]. You can pay in up to S$35,700 a year (about £20,700) as a foreigner, against S$15,300 (about £8,900) for citizens and PRs. Contributions get Singapore tax relief if you're a tax resident, within the overall S$80,000 cap on personal reliefs, and only 50% of withdrawals are taxed at retirement [3]. There are strings: withdrawals before Singapore's statutory retirement age are generally penalised, so read the IRAS rules on withdrawals before you put money in.

What changes when you become a PR

Once ICA grants you Permanent Residence, CPF becomes compulsory. To soften the blow, the first two years use graduated rates [1][4]:

Status (age 55 and under, pay above S$750 a month)	Employer	Employee	Total
PR, first year (graduated)	4%	5%	9%
PR, second year (graduated)	9%	15%	24%
PR from the third year, or citizen	17%	20%	37%

Source: CPF Board contribution rates from 1 January 2026 [1][4].

Your first year starts on the day you become a PR. The second year starts on the first day of the month after your first anniversary, and the third on the first day of the month after the second [1]. You and your employer can jointly opt to pay full rates early, or your employer can pay full rates while you stay on graduated ones [1].

Contributions are worked out on wages up to the Ordinary Wage ceiling of S$8,000 a month (about £4,650) [4]. On a monthly salary at or above that ceiling, a third-year PR aged 55 or under has S$1,600 (about £930) deducted, and the employer adds S$1,360 (about £790). In year one it's just S$400 (about £230) from you and S$320 (about £190) from the employer.

Older workers pay less: from 1 January 2026 the total drops to 34% above 55, 25% above 60, 16.5% above 65 and 12.5% above 70 [1]. The CPF Board has announced further increases for senior workers from 1 January 2027 [1].

Where the money goes

CPF is split into accounts. The Ordinary Account can be used for housing, including an HDB resale flat if you qualify; the Special Account is for retirement; MediSave pays for hospital bills and MediShield Life premiums; and at 55 a Retirement Account is created, which later funds monthly payouts under CPF LIFE [5][6]. Unlike a UK workplace pension, you can't pick a fund and forget it: the basic money is invested in special Singapore Government Securities [5].

What CPF earns

CPF interest is set quarterly. From 1 October to 31 December 2026 [5]:

Ordinary Account: 2.5% a year, the legal minimum.
Special, MediSave and Retirement Accounts: 4% a year, with the 4% floor extended to 31 December 2027.
Extra interest of up to 1% on the first S$60,000 (about £34,860) of combined balances, with no more than S$20,000 of that from the Ordinary Account, and more again for older members. CPF says you can earn "up to 6% or 5%" a year in total [5].

Those are guaranteed rates, which is more than any UK cash ISA promises. The catch is access: this money is locked away for housing, healthcare and retirement, not for the deposit on a new car.

Leaving Singapore and closing your account

Many Brits become PRs, stay a decade, then head home. CPF has a clear process. Once you're no longer a citizen or PR, you can close your CPF account and have the money paid to your bank account [6]:

Renounce your PR through ICA. The CPF Board needs ICA's letter confirming the cancellation.
Apply to close the account. Online with Singpass is fastest; otherwise use Form CPF-CA, which has to be certified at a Singapore Overseas Mission or notarised and apostilled if you're already abroad [6]. The CPF Board encourages you to do it before you fly.
Wait. Average processing takes about 12 weeks [6].

If you don't close it, the account is closed automatically the month after your renunciation and the money stops earning CPF interest; as a concession it earns something like commercial bank interest until 31 March 2027 [6]. Your MediShield Life cover and CPF LIFE membership end too.

Two practical points. First, the money doesn't follow you into a UK pension: it comes out as cash. What it means for UK tax depends on your residence when it's paid, so time the withdrawal with care and check it with a tax adviser who knows both countries. Second, giving up PR has knock-on effects, including on any re-entry permit and, for families with sons, National Service questions; our permanent residence guide covers those.

How CPF fits with your UK pensions

There's no social security agreement between the UK and Singapore. The DWP's list of countries where the State Pension rises each year doesn't include Singapore, so your UK State Pension is frozen if you retire here [7]. Years paying CPF don't count towards your UK National Insurance record, and UK years don't count towards CPF.

What that means in practice:

Fill UK gaps separately. If you'll want a full UK State Pension, look at voluntary National Insurance from abroad.
Keep UK workplace and private pensions where they are unless you've had regulated financial advice. CPF isn't a home for UK pension money, and moving a UK pension offshore can trigger the 25% overseas transfer charge. Our guide to UK pensions abroad and the transfer warnings explains the rules and the scams.
Think about tax on the way out. Singapore generally doesn't tax overseas income received here, which affects how the UK–Singapore treaty treats your UK pensions; see our guide to Singapore taxes for Brits.

PRs swap notes on CPF top-ups and housing in our community group for Brits in Singapore, where plenty of members have been through the PR-to-CPF switch.

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = SGD 1.7214). Pensions and tax are general information, not advice.

CPF for Brits: why Employment Pass holders don't pay, and what changes as a PR